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“Only this one time?” he asked, leaning down and kissing me hard.
“This time was the only one that really mattered.”
He nodded. His gaze was soft as he took me in. “Come on. Let’s get out of here before we get caught naked and end up on the cover of every newspaper and magazine in town. They’re already talking about you jumping to my defense in the press.”
He helped me to my feet, and we both quickly slipped back into our clothes.
“It has to be close to midnight now. We need to get some sleep. We’ve got to be up early for our run in the morning.”
He took my hand and led me to the car. “Yep. And it’s not going to be easy getting any sleep with you naked in my bed.”
I sucked in a breath. I wondered if we’d each go to our own places once we left the cove.
“That’s presumptuous,” I teased. “You just think I’ll sleep at your house?”
“You want me to chase you, sweetheart?” he said, not hiding his sarcasm. “Because I will. If that’s what you need. But I want you in my bed. I want to wrap myself around you and wake up to you in the morning.”
“Well, when you put it that way.” I shrugged after I got into the car, and he reached over to buckle my seat belt. Normally, I’d slap someone’s hand away for doing that, but at the moment, I’d let this man do just about anything to me.
“Good. Let’s go home.”
I closed my eyes as we drove toward his house. I couldn’t remember a time that I’d been this relaxed.
This happy.
This content.
* * *
The last few days had been busy between Lincoln’s insane workouts and me in talks withSports Today,as I’d be breaking this news with them. I’d been busy making tweaks to the final statement that had been released this morning.
Lincoln Hendrix Will Be Signing with the New York Thunderbirds.
It was now public knowledge that Lincoln was telling me his story, and I was also the same woman who’d jumped to his defense last week when we’d been in the city.
My phone rang, and I watched Lincoln through the sliding glass doors as he pushed a gigantic tire up and down the driveway as an extra core workout that he liked to do. He wore a pair of basketball shorts, no shirt, and a navy baseball cap turned backward on his head.
There should be some sort of rule about sexy men wearing their caps backward. It caused my ovaries to go into overdrive.
Every. Damn. Time.
His chest was tanned and chiseled, and the muscles in his arms strained each time he pushed the oversized tire another couple of feet.
I answered the phone and put it on speaker.
“Hey, Ever,” I said, happy to see my cousin’s name on the screen.
“Hi, superstar. So, you broke the news about where Lincoln’s playing next year, and it’s all everyone is talking about here. I’m in the city with Hawk and the kids for a game, and this story iseverywhere.”
“Yeah, I think people have been waiting to see what he was going to do. I know local fans won’t be thrilled, but I’m sure a lot of them will follow him to the Thunderbirds.”
“I think so, too,” she said. “The vibe I’ve heard is that everyone sort of blames Tony Anders for not protecting him.”
“It would be the truth.”
“So, are you going to tell me what’s going on with you two? First, you defend the man against a paparazzo, and don’t even get me started that Lincoln is twice your size, and you still decided to jump in. I think what people love most about that photo going viral is the way that he was looking at you.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, trying not to chuckle because it was ridiculous that I’d jumped in front of him, but I’d do it again if I felt like he was being threatened.
